In the last several years, people have become more concerned with their resource consumption and its impact on the environment. Such concerns have reached new heights recently with a backdrop of spiking energy costs and seemingly endless discussions of global warming.
While most persons have a general appreciation of the impact that their actions have on resource consumption and the environment, many such persons do not appreciate the impact of their computer usage. Therefore, while a person may consider himself to be relatively environmentally conscious because he adheres to “green” practices, such as lowering the thermostat in winter and raising it in summer, he may still unknowingly consume unnecessary amounts of energy and other resources with his computer and its peripheral devices. In addition to lacking knowledge of the impact of their computer usage, such persons often do not know how to change their computer usage practices to reduce their consumption and the environmental impact associated with that usage.